UCB compatriot Nick Kroll does better with
stand-up than characters in DVD special

By Michael Shashoua / Jester editor-in-chief

Comedic actor and stand-up Nick Kroll pops up in small roles and
collaborates in projects featuring Upright Citizens Brigade
alumni, most notably the FX series “The League” and the Adult
Swim series “Childrens Hospital” starring Rob Corddry. Kroll
recently released his first stand-up special on DVD, “Thank You Very Cool,” and this look at his own solo performing work
reveals that he’s better served by a collaborative environment.

Kroll has the ability to disappear into comic characters, and
his stand-up material in this special in interspersed with skits
featuring those characters. In short, his stand-up is a lot
stronger than the character material seen here. Kroll is
effective as an actor on other shows, especially Childrens
Hospital where he played a child aging rapidly into an old man
but still retaining the same mental age, but one wonders how
much of this invention came from the show’s writers making use
of Kroll’s strengths and tone as a performer.

Kroll’s characters, including Bobby Bottleservice – a club
lizard; El Chupacabra, a Mexican radio DJ; and Gil Faizon – an
ultra-liberal 50-something New Yorker, tend to be one-note and
even a bit grating. When left to his own devices, and without
other players to bounce off, Kroll’s character segments tend to
fall a little flat.

As mentioned before, though, Kroll does have some inventive
stand-up, namely bits on trying to explain Michael Jackson to
his kids, packing for a flight while drunk, airport shopping,
and of course, sex. It’s not stand-up that innovates or
stretches the boundaries of the format, but Kroll does entertain
with universal material and a knack for finding absurdities. As
seen in this special, Kroll definitely has promise but could
stand to develop both his sketch and stand-up to greater
heights.